Chevron rig deal sign of Gorgon commitment

<p>Chevron has made a major financial commitment to develop the natural gas resources in the Greater Gorgon area by chartering a newbuild semi-submersible rig from Atwood Oceanics for a minimum of three years, <em>Lloyd’s List</em> in London reports today (Thursday, January 10).</p> <p>The US oil major’s Australian division has ordered the ultra-deepwater drilling rig at a dayrate of US$470,000 for a firm commitment of three years and it has an option to extend this to six years.</p> <p>Chevron could use the rig for exploration work off Australia, but a charter of this length signals that it is likely to be used for development drilling on the Greater Gorgon LNG project.</p> <p>Chevron is leading a consortium of oil companies that includes Shell and Exxon-Mobil, to develop large gas fields in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia. Their development plans involve installing subsea systems and tying them back to a terminal and an LNG plant, set to be built on Barrow Island, west of Dampier.</p> <p>The LNG plant could have two, or even three trains, to produce up to 15m tonnes of LNG per annum if Chevron gets all government and state approvals for building the facilities on Barrow Island.</p> <p>US driller Atwood has ordered the new semi-submersible rig from Jurong Shipyard in Singapore for delivery in 2011.</p> <p>The Friede &#38 Goldman ExD Millennium semi-submersible will cost between US$570m and US$590m, which includes US$280m for the hull and deck structures. The remainder will be spent on drilling systems, accommodation and associated units, which Atwood will source from outside Jurong.</p> <br />